Interlude: What You Can Do (Skank's Story)
by Darkpenn
Summary: Black Widow and Skank know that being a superhero is a hard path, but they find that travelling together can make it easier.


**Interlude: What You Can Do (Skank's Story)**

_Black Widow and Skank know that being a superhero is a hard path, but they find that travelling together can make it easier._

_[Author's Note: This story takes place a month after the story _What We Might Become_.]_

* * *

"Thanks for the invite," said Natasha, as she took the beer from Beth.

"Sorry my place is such a pile of crap," said Beth, as she sat down on the threadbare armchair. "Pretty different to what you're used to, I guess. Actually, where do you live? In the Avengers mansion?"

"I have some rooms there. I have a room and office on the SHIELD helicarrier, and I have duties there sometimes. Still technically on the SHIELD payroll. I own a couple of apartments in various places under various names. Can't say I really like any of them. But a girl's gotta have a place to lay her head."

"You don't like the mansion?"

"It's alright. Bit of a boys' club. The guys don't mean it, it's just that there's a lot of testosterone in the air. Tony's a genius but a prick. Bruce is a genius but pretty introverted, which is understandable. Steve is so courteous that he's hard to talk to. And Thor is a demigod, of course."

"Huh. What about the arrow guy?"

"Ah, Clint. We have a history. Some good, some not so good. Bit hard to get past. You know, I'll be really glad if we get another female member. But superwomen are thin on the ground. I was hoping you might put your hand up, but I can understand if you don't want to."

"Sorry, I don't play well with others," said Beth. "And anyway, I have … family responsibilities."

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"My mother is in a care home," said Beth. "Alzheimers. I go to see her as often as I can. It's a nice place but not cheap, of course. That's why I'm always picking up loose wads of cash. Funny, she's kind of the reason I got into the superhero business in the first place. She used to be a cop, you see. I think she was the only clean one in the entire Newark police department. So she didn't get any promotions but she didn't care. She wanted to stay on the street, she said that that is where you can make the most difference. There was never a man in our family picture, so when her mind started to go I tried to make enough money for the medical bills through various jobs, even stripping, but it just didn't add up. And someone had to do something to stop the whole town sliding down the tube. She'd taught me some moves, shown me how to take care of myself. So I became Skank. That was about two years ago. I don't know if I've had much impact. Some people who know about me say I have, but I don't know."

"If it means anything, you have," said Natasha. "I took the opportunity to abuse the SHIELD database to run some figures for the past year or so. In this patch of Newark, there's some good news in the stats. Drug use falling, school attendance rising. Street crime and gang activity have dropped. New businesses have started up. Social services organisations are not spread so thin, due to anonymous donations and having fewer clients. Whatever you're doing, I think you're doing it right."

Beth stared at her. "Huh," she said eventually. "How about that."

"And you have a day job too, right?"

"Part-time. You're not going to believe it, but I work in the City Morgue. I look after the dead bodies."

Natasha broke into laughter. Then she stopped. "Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect," she said.

"No, that's alright, it's actually pretty funny, I think." She got another beer for herself and handed one to Natasha. "You know, it's nice to have someone to talk to about this stuff," she said. "I've always been pretty careful about letting people in. I worry that the bad guys might hit any friends I have if they can't get to me. But I'm assuming you can take care of yourself. And Jarvis is an AI."

"I wanted to ask how things were going with that. I notice that he vanishes every now and then."

"Things are going pretty well, I guess. Better than pretty well. And, you know, I don't really care that he doesn't, er, have a body. After working in strip joints and topless bars, I'm over the dick thing."

Natasha nodded. She was quiet for a while, and then said: "You know, Beth, I envy you."

Beth looked around at the apartment: the peeling paint, the cracked floor, the leaking pipes, the cheap furniture. "Hard to believe," she said. She looked at her watch. "Anyway, it's time for me to go out to do the superhero thing." She put her Glock in the holster at the back of her belt and picked up her baseball bat.

"Er, need any help?" said Natasha.

"What?"

"Well, can I join you? Just for the night."

"I thought supervillains and evil aliens were more your class."

"Hey, you do what you can, when you can, however you can."

Skank smiled. "Yeah, sure," she said.

END


End file.
